How can I hide what I’m listening to on Spotify?

Spotify is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it lets you play virtually any artist, track or album you can name, handily keeping all of your discoveries in one place. On the other, its social networking features allow your followers to uncover your terrible taste in music.

But fear not: a few quick changes to your Spotify settings will let you enjoy your jams in peace. No longer will you have to go into hiding every time you want to do the “Cha-Cha Slide” or unwind with some classic Nickelback.

Private Spotify Session

If you’re entering potentially embarrassing musical waters, Spotify’s Private Session can keep your shameful secrets. Located in the top-right dropdown menu (or under the Social subheading of the Settings menu in the iOS or Android app), next to the account name, this effectively “mutes” your activity until you close down the program, are inactive for six hours or disable it.

If you’re unsure whether or not you’re still in a Private Session, look for a blue padlock next to your account name. If it’s not there, hold fire on the James Blunt.

Secret playlists

If you’re worried about people rummaging around your saved music collection, you can make your profile (almost) secret by tweaking the settings of your playlists.

To begin, click on a playlist and select the “More” menu, a circle containing an ellipsis, underneath the title (see below).

Simply click the “Make Secret” option to keep your guilty pleasures safe from prying eyes. (The playlist above was created for the purposes of illustration… honest!)

If you’re using the Spotify app, it’s just a case of tapping on a playlist and then selecting the three dots icon in the top-right of the screen. Once done, select “Make Secret”.

To stop any playlist falling through the cracks in the future, head to Settings and deselect the “Automatically make new playlists public” option.

Stop all Spotify social sharing

If you simply want to kick back and listen to your Chris De Burgh collection with impunity, you can switch off all Spotify’s social sharing, leaving your friends none the wiser to your tastes. In the PC app, go to Edit, the Preferences and scroll down to the Social section.

Untick all the settings under Social, and friends won’t be able to see your play history, your favourite artists, your playlists or any of your Spotify activity. You can even Disconnect from Facebook completely and register with your email and password to avoid any potential leaks of your Lady in Red fetish.